


Gambling with Matchsticks

by quentinknockout



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 17:44:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8587876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quentinknockout/pseuds/quentinknockout
Summary: Stannis needs a favour. Davos wants to meet the family. Just some treacle fluff. Modern AU.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vana/gifts).



‘You’ve forgotten, haven’t you.’ Selyse’s voice was tired on the other end of the line. Stannis, phone cradled to his ear as he tried to open a can of soup, could not help wincing.  
‘What have I forgotten?’ He asked, resigning himself to it.  
‘Parent teacher interviews. Tomorrow night. I asked Mel to put it in your diary for you. You’ve been so haphazard lately, and I bet you haven’t even –‘  
Stannis waited til she was finished, the heaviness in his chest growing.  
Selyse was right. He had been haphazard lately. Slightly less organised. A little more spontaneous. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Spending time with Davos seemed to leave Stannis feeling lighter. As if someone had thrown a window open, letting the air and sunlight into a cold room.  
Stannis had easily explained it all away for a month or so. Late meetings. Staying at work to finish things. His workaholic nature covered these excuses, but he couldn’t keep it going. Now he and Davos spent so much time together, it was getting hard to avoid it, and he’d hidden the matter of his relationship from absolutely everyone, with the sole exception of Mel, who was impossible to lie to.  
And he could no longer lie to everyone else. Now they were past ten months in, past the hurdle of those big three words, Stannis realised he hadn’t thought of introducing Davos to the rest of his family.  
Especially his daughter.  
Shireen was a good girl. Kind and warm, truth be told quite different from her parents. But Shireen was also exceptionally clever. Stannis had no idea how to have that conversation.  
‘So, you’ve got someone to look after her then?’  
‘What?’ Stannis had drifted out of the conversation. Selyse sighed.  
‘Well, she’s staying at yours tomorrow. And you’re not leaving her alone for two hours while we’re at the school. She’s only ten.’  
‘She’s a very smart ten year old,’ Stannis countered, his mind ticking over. ‘But look, it’ll be fine.’  
‘I’ll meet you at the school at seven, all right? Seven. Remember.’ Selyse rang off in her impatience.  
Stannis stared at the phone, with an ominous feeling he’d forgotten something. That was it. Tomorrow night he was supposed to go to the movies with Davos.  
Bugger.  
\--  
Davos’s hand was slowly becoming more manageable. It had taken some getting used to, but now he could work his injured hand and still cook as well as he always did. Sure, it was a little slower, but it was rewarding. Tonight he was at home, with a glass of wine and an episode of Midsomer Murders. There was something missing, though, and that was probably Stannis sitting on the couch.  
Davos had thought of asking Stannis about the idea of moving in, so they’d see more of each other. But again, perhaps it was too early. Davos never wanted to push things.  
Besides, Christmas was coming, and Davos hadn’t met Stannis’s family. Stannis hadn’t met his. And Stannis had an ex wife and a daughter to think of, and it was all so messy and hard, this kind of stuff in middle age, and-  
His phone chirped. Speak of the devil.  
‘Hey, you.’  
‘How are you?’ Stannis sounded a little drained, but his voice was still warm. ‘Listen, I can’t come tomorrow night anymore.’  
‘This sounds like another one of your excuses to get out of seeing the movies I want to see,’ Davos chuckled.  
‘No, it’s just… my daughter’s school is having parent teacher interviews. I forgot. I’ll have to find someone to look after her while my ex and I go.’  
‘Want me to look after her?’  
‘No,’ Stannis said abruptly. ‘I can’t let you do that. This is my mistake, I –‘  
‘Honestly, it’s fine,’ Davos watched that the pot wouldn’t boil over, fiddled with the dial. ‘I’d love to meet her. Plus, I’m a wonder with kids. You’ve never seen me in action. Besides…’  
He paused. He’d say it.  
‘It’s about time I met her, darlin.’  
There was a pause.  
‘You’re right.’ Stannis sighed. ‘You wouldn’t mind terribly, would you? It’s quite late notice, and the regular girl I get has exams, and-‘  
‘It’ll be wonderful,’ Davos couldn’t keep the smile off his face. ‘God, you ring me up to stand me up and it ends with me doing you a favour. Boyfriend of The Year Award.’  
Stannis never laughed much, but Davos could tell he was smiling by the tone of his voice.  
‘You’re too sweet. Thank you. Is tomorrow at my place all right?’  
‘Totally fine.’  
‘You’re a godsend. See you then.’  
Davos hung up the phone, for some reason feeling as if he’d won a minor victory. 

\---  
‘Hi Dad.’  
Shireen always bashed through the door on Mondays at the same time, just after six thirty. She put her books in her room before coming to Stannis for a hug. ‘How was your day?’  
Stannis kissed the top of her head. ‘Same old. How was yours?’  
‘Good. I bought your book back.’  
‘Which one?’  
‘Great Expectations.’  
‘You’ve finished it already?’  
‘I’ve had it for five days.’ Shireen said, as if it had been an eternity, and swung onto the couch. ‘I liked it a lot. Anyway, I told mum to be nice to you tonight. I don’t want her to spoil your good mood.’  
Shireen was too perceptive, Stannis thought, and not just about her warring parents.  
‘It’ll be fine. Listen, someone different is looking after you tonight. Yara has exams.’  
‘Who?’ Shireen turned round to face him.  
‘A friend of mine. Davos.’  
‘Is he nice?’  
‘He is. I think you’ll like him a lot.’ Stannis said, and as he said it he felt a flutter of nerves in his belly. Of course Shireen would like Davos. Wouldn’t she? Everyone loved Davos, and everyone loved Shireen. And they were, as of now, the two most important people to him in the world. What if they didn’t get on?  
Oh, he really hadn’t thought this through.  
There was a knock at the door. Davos was always on time. Stannis stepped down the hall.  
‘Hiya.’  
Davos, as always, looked gorgeous. That bloody tight grey tshirt across broad shoulders. Why did he have to do that? Stannis thought miserably. His kiss, too, was brief and warm, the kind of casual affection that Stannis so often enjoyed, but right now felt self-conscious.  
‘Shireen’s here already,’ he murmured, by way of explaining, and led the way.  
‘Shireen, this is my… friend. Davos.’  
Shireen looked up and beamed. ‘Hello.’  
‘How are ya? Your father tells me you like card games.’  
‘I love them.’  
‘Which ones do you know?’ Davos came over and sat on the couch beside her. From his pocket he produced a deck.  
‘Oh, five hundred. Gin rummy. Fish. That kind of stuff.’  
‘I can teach you a few more, if you’d like?’  
Oh, yes please!’  
Stannis stared. Davos had melted into ease with Shireen immediately. It was if he didn’t need to be there.  
‘What happened to your hand?’  
‘That’s a story I can tell you after a few whiskeys.’ Davos looked back and winked at Stannis. ‘Only joking.’  
‘Go on, Dad.’ Shireen urged her father from the couch. ‘Mum’ll be waiting.’  
‘Have a good time, then,’ Stannis felt as if his heart had grown ten sizes. ‘I won’t be late.’ 

\---  
‘Do you know poker?’  
It was an hour later, and Shireen had proven herself to be a bit of a card sharp. Now she was the one teaching, and Davos was greatly amused. She was a lovely, bright kid.  
‘Yes. An old favourite of mine.’  
‘We can use matchsticks instead of money.’ Shireen suggested. ‘That’s what me and my friends at school do. It’s easier that way. Nobody loses.’  
‘A very wise girl you are.’  
Shireen found the matchsticks and began dealing the cards carefully.  
‘How did you hurt your hand?’  
‘I work in a shipyard. My glove got caught in a chain. Yanked the tops of my fingers clean off.’  
‘Oh, that’s awful. Did it hurt?’  
‘Not as much as you would expect.’  
‘Does it make things hard though? Doing things? Like cooking and dressing yourself and that kind of stuff?’  
‘No. Just slower. There’s some things I can’t do any more, but that’s all right.’  
‘Sorry to be nosy.’  
‘You’re not nosy, love. Just curious.’ Davos picked up his cards. ‘Now remind me, is an ace good?’  
\---  
Stannis arrived home to find Shireen surrounded by a bounty of matchsticks, giggling with Davos. He couldn’t help but smile.  
‘Gosh, what’s gone on here?’  
‘Just a little bit of underage gambling. Nothing to worry about.’ Davos beamed at him, that charming grin again. Stannis could have melted in gratitude.  
‘How did the interviews go, Dad?’  
‘You’re apparently a very clever girl, but I knew that already.’ Stannis murmured softly. ‘But it’s probably almost bed time.’  
‘Oh, can’t Davos stay a little longer? We were just about to deal another hand.’  
‘You want in?’ Davos raised an eyebrow, and with that close-fitting shirt he was wearing, the next thought that crossed Stannis’s mind wasn’t entirely appropriate.  
‘All right then. I can’t remember how to play.’  
Beneath the coffee table, Davos touched his knee. ‘You’re in fine hands here with the pair of us.’  
Well, Stannis thought gratefully, that was certainly true. 

\- - -  
In the car on the school run the next morning, Shireen tied her shoelaces.  
‘I love Davos, Dad. He’s great fun.’  
‘I’m glad you like him,’ Stannis replied, glancing ahead looking for a park.  
‘Is he your boyfriend?’  
Stannis’s foot somehow found the brake instead of the accelerator.  
‘Pardon?’  
‘I saw you kiss him in the hall.’  
‘Well, yes.’ Stannis mustered up the bravery. ‘Yes, he is.’  
‘Oh, good. That’s really great, Dad.’ Shireen pecked his cheek and opened the car door. ‘Love you! See you on Thursday.’  
Her approval was all he’d wanted, Stannis reflected, as he navigated through the traffic to the other side of the city. But Shireen really was a very perceptive girl.  
He dialled Davos’s number as he drove.  
‘Heya darling,’ Davos’s voice was sleep fogged. ‘What’s up?’  
‘Are you at home? I want to come by and thank you.’  
‘You’ve already thanked me,’ Davos chuckled. ‘You said it about a dozen times.’  
‘No. I mean..’ Stannis cleared his throat, and thought of Davos’s in that shirt from the night before. ‘I mean properly thank you.’  
‘Oh,’ Davos sounded softer now. ‘That’d be lovely. If you have time.’  
‘I have plenty of it,’ Stannis murmured. ‘Especially for you.’  
He would just have to be late for work that morning. It wouldn’t hurt.  
Some things were just a little more important.


End file.
